Changes

January 23, 2552 0727hrs
CCR-Class Research Vessel Mercy and Devotion
Staff Sergeant Nick Walker/ Science Major Naki 'Cimutee

Nick awoke with a start and let his eyes dart around the room; just more purple walls in various shades. With a sense of foreboding, he looked down at his hands, and was relieved to see his pale white skin glaring back at him. Too much time spent in gear and on ships, and not enough rest and relaxation was not kind to his tan. The air still smelled faintly of fruit, but he was back in his cell.

Someone had piled the tattered remains of his gear on the opposite wall's shelf, he was still undressed from that pod he had been told to crawl into. Nick stood from the floor, his bare skin sticking slightly to the alien metal, and pulled some shorts on from the pile.

He felt a bit strange, almost a floating feeling. Every step felt wrong, as if the gravity was wrong; Nick knew that with artificial gravity it was possible something had been altered, but the feeling came from his core, not actually his limbs. Unfortunately it had not replaced the sense of impending dread he had felt since waking on the ship. All he could do was pace around the cell or sit on the shelf, as there was nothing to really occupy his time.

Time felt like it was just crawling by, but eventually the cellblock door opened. Nick being the only inmate meant that they were either there for him, or it was just one of the guards going to take care of something. Either way, it was something different than the uncountable hours of boredom.

A familiar set of green armor appeared and deactivated the energy barrier. This was the first time he had seen Naki since their first meeting, and he still felt uneasy about it.

"Good afternoon..." She said, the tone in her voice showed that she probably felt the same way. Naki stepped inside and tapped something sticking out of her thigh pocket.

There was a hiss and pop, and the pulse of energy surrounded them. The cell barrier reappeared behind her, slightly more opaque than before.

"What about the guards?" Nick asked, he was sure it was almost safe to speak freely now.

Naki nodded her head toward the cell block door. "I sent them away for now. They don't know what you're here for and my program is somewhat secret."

"Well, welcome to my cell." Nick gestured around at the barren space with his arms and took a seat on one of the platforms. "Make yourself comfortable." He tried a little humor to lighten the awkward mood.

She shook her head and relaxed slightly. "Sorry, I won't be able to stay long. The test is today, in about... Twenty of your minutes. And if the experiment is a success, I am to turn you over to Fleet Security for interrogation and disposal."

Nick's heart dropped and he felt his stomach turn upside down. He retched once, sending stomach acid into his mouth as his stomach was empty.

Naki waved her hands, realizing she probably should not have been so direct about it. "No, no, I'm not going to let that happen. Sorry I worded it that way."

It took a few moments for Nick to recompose himself. He wiped his mouth of a few strands of saliva with the back of his hand. "What are you going to do about it?"

She frowned, at least those facial expressions seemed to be universal across species. "I cannot tell you, not until later. You're just going to have to trust me." She paused. "Can I ask you to do that?"

He desperately wanted to know what she was planning, and he let his exasperation show plainly on his face. However, he was not sure if the full meaning of the expression still registered with Naki. Nick did not really have a choice though, she held all the cards.

"Yes... I think I can." He finally said.

She lowered her head and spoke in a hushed tone. "Thank you." Naki looked back up at him. "The test is soon. I have things that still need to be prepared, please... Try to relax."

Naki started for the door. "Oh, by the way... You don't happen to remember what your... Sangheili name was way back when, do you?"

Nick sat there for a moment, the thought spinning in his head to no avail. "No... Why?"

A small smile from Naki. "I think I do."

With that, she deactivated the Forerunner device and departed the cell block.

He leaned back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling; his stress levels were still rising. To even try to calm down was laughable at that point, but he tried. He closed his eyes and began to take deep, long breaths. It worked, partly, at least until the Guards arrived to take him.

They had him walk himself to the compartment. Every step seemed slowed as the anxiety kicked in overdrive. It was not necessarily something he dealt with regularly, falling from orbit had been a good way to get over it, however he was walking towards something that would literally change his species. It sounded so impossible, that part of him just did not believe it. But Naki thought it would work, and that was all that seemed to matter. He was going to lose his Humanity and become an alien in order to survive the war. As his mind had concluded so many times before, he had no choice.

The room they had led him to had green armored Elites everywhere, just like the last time he had been taken to a lab. Though, this time Naki was front and center. She was standing beside what looked like an articulating table, and she wordlessly directed him to lie down atop it.

Nick followed the instructions and climbed up onto the table. Other green armored Elites, he now noticed that their color was slightly paler than that of Naki's, attached sticky pads across his chest. He was not sure what those were. In fact, nothing that was happening made much sense to him, no one was telling him anything either. Not that it was entirely expected with him being 'less than worthless' in the eyes of the Covenant.

Naki walked up to him and stuck something on his left arm, it was large and slightly heavy. A quick glance showed the blue device she had shown him during their first meeting, but now it was installed on some sort of elastic strap, so it was held against his skin. There was a prick of pain as it clamped down on his forearm, though the pain came from his palm and not his arm. Strange.

She plucked one of the pads off of him and vacated the room with the other Elites. He was left alone, and he watched the door lights turn to red, locking him inside. His heartbeat was elevated, though began to slow down and he started to get sleepy.

He was going fast, he must have been slipped some kind of sedative. It did not take long for him to pass out.

xxx

20 Minutes Earlier

Naki sat down at a random desk in an unused lance room in the nose of the Mercy and Devotion. The ship did not have a full complement of warriors on this deployment, there was plenty of empty space for their secret meeting. She had just come from visiting with Nick for the last time before the ultimate test of Project Leau. It still felt weird to her that everything seemed to come back together after so many years apart. It was statistically impossible that Nick would be the one she ended up with for this experiment yet here he was.

Across from her sat Ultra Zeik 'Carunmee. He had always seemed hesitant in private when discussing the particulars of the project, so it was no surprise to her that he was quick to help her scuttle it. But her means of shutting down the project still had him still unnerved. Naki was aware that his time being a guard at the Geleterose installation had disparaged his belief in the Covenant hierarchy.

Naki activated the Forerunner privacy field and set the machine on the table. "So…" she began. "Have you procured an Identity Disk?"

Zeik nodded and placed a small disk on the table between them. "The only one I was able to get at such short notice was from a Special Operations Major killed on the last planet we were on. I do not think that I will be able to change the rank unfortunately."

"It should be sufficient... All we really need to do is modify deployment history and name. I don't want others to think that he is someone else." Naki placed the disk into a portable reader she had taken from one of the maintenance bays. She slid it over to Zeik so that he could work on the modifications. "His name will be Ryau 'Cinotee and is associated with our Ministry. Make sure that he's listed as being from one of the fringe colonies, that way his mannerisms can be handwaved as just a thing they do out there."

"Mmm, very specific Naki." Zeik clicked his mandibles and shrugged sarcastically. "I should be able to do this, but I cannot guarantee that it will hold up forever. There will be unavoidable problems with databases and pay rates."

"Mark him as recently returned from keep duties, keep him on that for the last ten solar cycles; that should take care of pay and records. When we get back, I will push a database worm with the ship's logs, that should knock out a few thousand records and should cover our tracks." Naki tapped into her own data-pad.

Zeik hummed to himself and clicked his mandibles in a short pattern. "That might work... Put some Kig-Yar tendencies in so the blame shifts to piracy."

"Oh I like that idea... Now, once the experiment 'fails' I need you to have the body you retrieved for the blood transfusion swapped with his and arrange for him to go to another empty lance room. Dump him in a supply crate or something along those lines. I will take care of the rest from there."

"Verywell, Naki... Are you sure this is the course of action you wish to follow?" Zeik asked for the fourth time since they had initially brainstormed the plan.

She nodded. "Yes, it is. This is the only one that allows for his survival."

"You care very much for this Human you just met?" He inquired. "What changed?"

Naki frowned and searched his face. She could not tell him the truth, it was impossible, he would never believe her; but if he did what would that mean for her. She mentally debated just telling him everything, Zeik had always been a trusting man. However she would not do it now. There was too much moving right now to introduce a distraction of that level.

His questioning look only deepened when she did not reply, but he waved his hand to dismiss the question. "Nevermind for now, you can tell me later." He pointed directly at Naki. "You need to go to your lab."

With a sigh, Naki looked back towards the door. "I suppose you're right… Make sure you are in place. I'll dismiss my assistants once the time of death has been noted, and then clear the room." She stood from the table and disabled the privacy field; then she headed out, only stopping at the door to look back at him, still tapping away on his data-pad. "Also, Zeik… Thanks for the help. This means more to me than you know."

Naki took the ship's central Grav-conveyer back towards the Mercy and Devotion's main corridor and hopped off just a few meters from the main laboratory where they would be performing the test. She felt the 'butterflies in her stomach' as the old Human saying went. When she stepped inside, her various assistants were diligently preparing the required devices. Beyond her assistants was the Forerunner Device, still in the protective foil wrap, sitting in the cradle they had salvaged from the ruin. Naki took a breath and put a pleased face on.

"Alright everyone, how are things coming along here?" She asked.

One of the lighter green armored Sangheili looked up from a console. "Everything is going well, Major 'Cimutee." Zee replied. "We have everything ready on our end."

"Good, good." Naki nodded. "I just hope our subject will be strong enough for us to complete this experiment, as you all should know by now, we did not get the Demon I had requested."

"Yes Major, as disappointing as that was. I am still confident that this will work." Zee assured her. "I am sure the Gods are looking at us favorably today."

Naki gave what she hoped was a genuine looking grin back to her. "Indeed." She was thinking of that strange Constructor Sentinel that had appeared when she had found the Device, it had told her to keep it secret, but then did not seem to oppose it when she recovered it on the planet.

The doors to the lab parted ways and the two escorting Minors brought Nick into the lab. At this moment he looked so frail and dirty. His wounds were still surrounded by dark bruises that she could see through the scraps of clothing he still wore. Naki looked down at him and took a deep breath, then directed him to get on the table.

One of her other assistants, Apprentice Weir 'Ferasee, approached and placed bio-monitors across his chest. The steady single beep of the monitor began faintly from the other room. Naki pulled the Device from its foil and carefully placed an elastic band around its rim. She slipped it over Nick's hand and pulled it tight. While no one was looking, she slipped an injector against his palm and administered a dose of the Demon tranquilizer.

Reaching down, she removed one of the bio-monitors in case she needed to override its signal later, and then waved to her assistants in the room. "It is now time to clear the laboratory, move to observation."

Her assistants cleared the space and filed through a door to the back bay. A clear window separated the rooms and Naki signed into the main control console. It had been synchronized to a set of manipulator arms so that she could trigger the Device from the safety of the Observation bay. She was not going to actually activate the Device yet, just make it look as if she was going to.

"Now we begin…" She announced to those that were watching her. Naki knew at this point, The High Prophet would be watching the feed for the results of the experiment; everything had to go just as she planned.

Using the manipulator arm, she lowered the interface control and carefully tapped the indicator button on the Device.

A bright field of energy rapidly engulfed Nick's still body. Naki blinked, not expecting the button not attached to any action to actually do anything. She glanced down at the bio-signs monitor and saw the heart rate immediately cut out.

If she had not been expecting it, she would have been distraught.

All at once, the energy field disappeared, revealing an unchanged Nick and a series of rapid red flashes from the screen of the Device.

"It… appears that we have had a failure." Naki spoke to her assistants. She gave the bio-monitor another courtesy glance. "Human subject is deceased as well… pitiful."

"Major 'Cimutee, the Hierarch asks what you plan to do now?" The assistant that must have been sending the feed to Truth asked from the back of the bay.

"We will go over and analyze the data gained from this test, and then try again, Holy One." Naki added the honorific to make it seem like she was disappointed in herself for this 'failure.'

Instead of the assistant relaying the message, the voice of Truth came over the observation bay's speakers. "Well Science Major Cimutee, maybe we should begin with something stronger than the vermin. If the Device is undamaged, perhaps begin testing with that Major that bungled the capture operation. See if he likes how the lower castes live."

Naki blinked in surprise. "Very well, Hierarch… Though it will take time to ensure the integrity of the Device."

"Indeed, Science Major, I do not want to squander our gift from the Gods. I eagerly await your results." The line clicked off and the tension in the room noticeably lifted.

Naki waved to the others. "Save your records and lock your stations. I will have the Unggoy clear the laboratory, and I'll examine the device." Her students nodded and hurried to work, securing all their data for examination later. Naki herself left the bay and collected the Device from Nick's forearm. She quickly checked his wrist for his pulse and felt that it was there, but very slow.

"I've physically confirmed that the Human is dead." She lied to anyone that was still listening. "We'll start over once I have verified the device's integrity." With a sense of relief Naki hurried back to the observation bay to monitor her students. She was still concerned that things would not go over well, however in came Zeik with the Unggoy maintenance crew.

Nick's 'body' was loaded into a hover-cart by the Unggoy rather haphazardly, his body just flopping against the edges of the cart. He would definitely be sore later. One of the Unggoy took the cart out of the room, and the other began to clean the table. Zeik gave Naki a nod and moved to follow the cart.

With a sigh, Naki shook her head. "Once your stations are secured, you are dismissed. We will have a review session later tonight."

"Yes Major 'Cimutee," her assistants all said together.

She wanted for them to leave before wrapping the device with foil and locking it into its carrying case. With a sigh, she disabled the lights in the lab and closed the door behind her. This would likely be the last time she used this lab, hopefully the war would end before Truth demanded another update on the experiment. She quickly walked through the ship's corridors, first heading for her personal cabin, but instead she bypassed her branch and headed into the empty portion of the ship.

She keyed open the door to the cabin she and Zeik had agreed upon and found him leaning against the wall, waiting for her to arrive. Nick's unconscious body was laid out on the unfurnished bed completely fine and alive.

"So are we ready to get this over with?" Zeik pushed off the wall and walked around to the other side of the bed.

"I have collected everything I need, do you have what I asked for?" Naki pulled the Device out of the case and inserted the proper sample substance into the receptacle on the side. Carefully she strapped it back onto Nick's arm and took a step back.

Zeik pulled an Identity Disk from his pouch and placed it onto the table. "One disk for a SpecOps Major Ryau 'Cinotee. I will arrange for armor and clothing once... this transformation is complete."

"Verywell, let's get this done." Naki sighed. "Step back please."

Zeik backed up until he was nearly in the doorway of the room's sanitary suite. "Is this far enough?"

"Yes, I believe so." Naki leaned down over the Device and properly tapped the sequence into the interface. Supposedly, future uses would not need the sequence, everything should work at the press of a single button, however this was going to be its first true use in over a hundred millenia, so steps had to be taken.

The instructions she had retrieved from the Device had left details for how to create a mental imprint for language and motor skills, but the original details she had made had been for a Kig-Yar. At the last minute, Naki had asked her two closest Assistants, Zee and Weir, to remake the imprint, and they had delivered. At Least Naki hoped they had, she also hoped that they had not used themselves as the base.

She added the imprint last to the sequence and proceeded to activate the Device. Naki backed away quickly as the energy field once again began to envelope Nick's unconscious form. The bright silver energy completely surrounded him, leaving a vaguely human shape on the bed. The energy changed to a blue hue and the energy began to shift.

With the color changed, it also seemed to become more transparent. The field enlarged and became shaped more like a Sangheili, which was the desired result. Inside the field, Naki could see the skin shifting to a greyer color, and it looked like bones were freely moving beneath it. Naki found the sight both fascinating and disgusting to see. The hair on the top of Nick's head, which barely resembled either species at the time, vanished into the swirling energy field. Zeik looked away, but the whole transformation captivated Naki's attention.

The field became more opaque and Naki suddenly became aware that the whole process was going by in complete silence; she could hear Zeik's elevated breathing on the other side of the room, and an old familiar whirring from behind her.

She spared a glance over her shoulder and was surprised to find the modified Constructor Sentinel hovering just behind her. Its large green eye fastened on the scene happening on the bed before them. A secondary lens tracked Naki's face as she got over her shock.

"Well, hello again." She said to the little machine.

It gave one of its single beep responses and continued to observe the final moments of the first transformation process.

Naki turned back in time to see the blue energy dissipate as if the field retaining it just suddenly vanished. It felt cool upon her skin, strangely. What was left on the bed was what Naki could only describe as an average grey skinned male Sangheili. The only remaining vestiges of the Human that had once occupied the same space were the surgical and plasma burn scars across his left side. But those too had shifted in color to match the new Sangheili skin.

Not ignoring her scientist instincts, Naki went to work to verify everything. "Hmm, correct number of fingers... toes... leg structure. Everything looks correct, Zeik." She glanced over at the Ultra, retching into the waste receptacle in the sanitary closet. "I do believe we have a complete success."

Zeik wiped through his mandibles with the back of his arm and then tried it off with a towel. "That is... good. Bleh... Why did I opt to stay in this forsaken room for that?"

"Because you were curious, like me." Naki smiled over at him. "Let us hurry and get him measured, so that you can get those clothes tailored."

"Fine, I think I just need a few more moments..." Zeik shook his head and returned to the main room. "What is that... thing?" He nodded towards the Constructor Sentinel that had moved closer to the sleeping Sangheili on the bed.

"Uh, well, that is a modified Sentinel from the planet we found the Device on." Naki said, not looking up from her physical examination. "I don't know where it came from, it just sort of appeared in the middle of this experiment."

Zeik carefully gave the small Forerunner drone ample space as he retrieved a scanner for body proportions. "Well, it better not stay long, I do not know how to explain that to the Ministry." He quickly went to work, running the device up and down the body and noting the data.

Naki nodded. "It spent all this time hidden, I think it has been following for quite a while. Plus it seems to have the ability to understand what we're saying. So I doubt it will remain visible for long." As Naki knew it could fully communicate, the Sentinel finished up its observation. It took a single scan of its own with one of its modified sensors, gave Naki another beep that sounded congratulatory, and then vanished into thin air.

"That... is much better than our active camouflage systems..." Zeik said in wonder.

"Alright, Zeik, hurry up and go." Naki said. "I don't know when that tranquilizer will wear off on him now."

xxx

Hours after Nick had passed out in the laboratory, his eyes rapidly fluttered open. His vision was blurry, and his entire body felt stiff and cold, but whatever he was laying on was softer than anything he had slept on in the last ten years. He closed his eyes again, he just wanted to sit there for a few moments longer. Then Nick felt his mouth twitch, or rather four bits of his mouth moving apart independently.

His eyes popped back open, and his mind quickly remembered what had happend over the last few hours. What Naki had intended to do to him.

He took a breath, once more feeling the new way that his mouth moved, and looked at his hands. The grey four digit hands of a Sangheili slowly rose into view. Nick was vividly aware that these were not what his hands should look like, but also knew that they were his hands. Those were his large two toed feet just barely visible beyond his arms. The reaction he was expecting to feel did not come to him, he was strangely calm, and seemed to just innately know how his altered extremities functioned.

"Gods..." he muttered.

That did feel slightly strange to him, the way the words emitted themselves from his throat without the use of his 'lips'. As did the altered vocabulary his mind had chosen to use at that exact moment. Usually another word would be something he would have used.

"Fuck." The word spat out of his mouth sounded different to his now alien ears.

It suddenly occurred to him that it had been spoken in English, and the other word had been in… another language. A Covenant language.

He had not expected that, and Naki had not warned him about that. But she had told him that there was not enough time to explain everything. Nick shook his head and looked around the room he found himself in. As usual, everything was a shade of purple, but it was more roomy than his holding cell. His bed was comfortable, and there was a small door on the wall across from him.

Nick swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand on his new legs. It was difficult at first, but he eventually found his footing and took a few experimental steps around.

A holographic control panel flashed to life beside a blank wall. Nick thought it was the strangest thing to see the strange Covenant triangular letters and just know what they meant without any real effort on his part.

He selected the icon that was labeled 'reflection' and the wall was immediately covered with a mirrored view of the room. Standing before him was a pale grey Elite with large fresh scarring across his left side. It was the first time he had gotten a good look at himself since before the deployment on Standard, so even those scars were as alien as this new body. His eyes were the same color, but now they were entirely brown. That was the only familiar thing he really saw on himself.

The door behind him chimed and slid open. He looked up at the intruder through the mirror, and recognized Naki in her armor. She was alone and waited for the door to close before saying anything, but she was obviously surprised.

Once the door shut, she looked him over. "Well I didn't expect to find you walking around so soon. How are you feeling?"

Nick once again looked at himself through the mirror. The new him, non-Human, bigger and bulkier than before. "I... uh...hmm... I'm not sure actually." She had spoken to him in english, but he had responded in whatever dialect he had spontaneously picked up.

"Oh the language infusion worked, excellent," Naki replied.

Nick turned his neck, finding that its new length easily allowed him to look further over his shoulder. It felt as odd as everything else. "Language… infusion? You didn't mention anything about that."

Naki walked up to him and poked his side in a few places. The new scar tissue was still fresh and raw. "Yes, well there wasn't really enough time for lengthy discussion. They wanted you dead whether or not the experiment succeeded, remember?"

He put up his hands defensively. "Yes, of course I remember."

"So the Device also has the ability for certain modifications to the mind. Which included your new motor skills and added languages."

"It's just those things... Right?" Nick wondered if he needed to start questioning his own thoughts.

"It should be, the whole process is ultimately done by the Device itself, I think there is an associated intelligence inside of it. All we did was supply the scan and select which traits to transfer," Naki said.

Nick let out a long sigh, just trying to process everything that happened. It felt impossible, yet it had just been proved possible. His reflection was proof of that. He took another breath and turned to fully face her.

Naki shook her head. "I'm just going to cut right to it, the Covenant believe that you, your Human self, is dead. You died during the first experiment and the Major that captured you has taken the fall for bringing a less than ideal subject." Naki pulled a disk of some sort out of a thigh pouch and offered it to him. "Ultra 'Carunmee and I have crafted you a new identity, one Special Operations Major Ryau 'Cinotee. If that name sounds familiar, it is the one from our shared past, like mine was."

He took the card from her and looked it over. There was not anything obvious about it, probably something similar to his old dog tags. "A Special Operations Major? That seems a little high profile. Is that the best choice?"

"It was the available disk we had to use, but trust me, Special Operations is not quite that big of a deal. With your experience in the helljumpers, you should be fine. The identity we created will hold up even under scrutiny. Your combat record matches as closely to your Human record that we could achieve, up until ten solar-cycles ago, where you returned home for Keep business." Naki paused and took the disk from Nick and placed it against the screen he was using as a mirror.

A whole list of information came up alongside the mirror in another window. All of which was in the Covenant language, and all of which he could read. His new birth- hatch...place, date, and Keep location were stored on the device. It also contained his new rank, and titles. Nick hoped that he would have time to really memorize all the information he needed.

"I hope this works..."

"As long as you play your part, I think that it should last until the end of the war." Naki commented.

Nick walked over to the bed and sat down. "The end of the war... right." He tested out his new name. "Ryau 'Cinotee... SpecOps Major Ryau 'Cinotee." The words were familiar to him, an old memory from his old life. The name fit, and he was satisfied with it. "So... Naki. What should we do now?"

"We are almost to Sanghelios, you should remain in here until we arrive and Ultra 'Carunmee gets you. There are clothes for you in the storage bins beside the interface, and armor will be supplied once we are settled on the planet."

"Sounds like a plan, What about after that?" He asked.

Naki shrugged. "Well, once we make it back home, we can talk about the future. I can guarantee more privacy there." She checked something on her data-pad. "I've sent a few documents to the system here. Reading on our culture and history. Things you should know."

"So some homework for me to do, I'll get right to it." Nick joked.

"There is a data-pad for you, with the clothes, so that you can read on the go." Naki opened one of the drawers and pulled the data-pad from inside. "I should get going, and you should get reading. I'll see you on the way down."

Nick took the data-pad and looked it over. The holographic screen flashed to life, and he sifted through the menus. Its user interface was strange and did not seem to make any sense, but he could figure some of it out. "Okay then, thank you Naki. I... really appreciate your help here."

She nodded, giving him a very slight smile. "Well... this was all I could do, I'm glad that we've finally found one another in this crazy universe, and I'm sorry that it had to come at such a cost."

"Eh, like you said, this was it, or death. I don't blame you." Nick replied, returning her smile. "I'll stay here and get reading, don't worry about me."

"Verywell, Ryau. Enjoy the heavy reading." Naki walked towards the doors, and it slid open. "I'll have Zeik bring you some food... goodbye."

Once she had left, and the doors slid shut, Nick leaned back onto the bed and let out another long breath. "God that was awkward..."